Sing Me To Sleep
by Leighton Cashmann
Summary: "I want to believe in the magic of falling in love. In floating hearts and shining smiles, in looks that are as deep as the ocean, in touches warmer than the sun, in the moments that take your breath away, and in kisses that give it back. But I can't afford to think like that." Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride.


**AN- Warning for profanity. Feel free to review with constructive criticism. First ff. Writing this at 2:27 AM isn't the best for my first chapter but I really wanted this up. R&R Please! :)**

I ran. Nothing ever seemed so important at this second. Tripping over the roots that stuck out of the ground, stepping on rocks thatseem to slip out of my sight, and soaking my feet in the puddles that collected over yesterday's rain didn't bother me. Bolting out of the wood's entrance and onto the street where cars beeped, I raced around the brick building on the street. New York never seemed so farmiliar. Car horns, sirens, and the faded voices of people talking filled my hearing once again. The street lights lit up my path along the road, to the darker side of the city. Sprinting down the alleyways, I had no worries, I knew these shortcuts like my own hand.

Lugging the brown sack I had in my clutch, I jumped over a fence, ran down a subway entrance and to a place I knew all too well. Turning right, I went to the part of the subway station that seemed to be abandoned. No one ever came here, people were scared of being mugged. Although, I wasn't scared. Only the homeless rest here, not muggers and criminals.

I dashed towards the place that was marked waiting area seventeen, the place I dubbed mine. I got there with heavily laboured breath, soaking shoes, and twigs in my hair. I put the sack down beside the makeshift bed that I created on the plastic, dull blue seats. I fixed my hair and dried my shoes. Satisfied with my look, I took the things out of the sack and crouched beside the makeshift bed. A little seven year old slept in it.

I woke her up and whispered as quiet as the breeze, "Happy birthday, Angel." The short blonde curls in her hair bounced as she took on a sitting position with a grin on her face. Eyeing the cake slice and present in my hand, she whispered back, "Thank you, Max." I placed the cake slice with a fork on her lap and put the present beside her. On the unoccupied side of her, I sat down. She savored every piece of that slice, just as I taught her. "Nothing lasts forever," I had said to her. Wise information I passed on isn't forgotten.

Minutes later, she finished her cake, throwing away the pastic plate and fork. Opening her present, she gasped. She took hold of the necklace I bought her. It was a silver locket, with fancy designs on the front. She opened It and I saw tears in her eyes. It had apicture of the only real family picture we had together. She gave me a happy and grateful look. Giving me the necklace, i put around her neck and closed the clasp. She sat on my lap and gave me a hug. "Thank you," She murmered into my neck, again. "You didn't have to get this for me." She lifted her head out of the curve of my neck.

"I'd give anything for my little angel," I smiled as I ruffled her blonde curls. She giggled. I slid out from under her, standing up to get a thick blanket out of the sack. Placing it down under the makeshift bed on the seats so that you couldn't feel the bumps of the chair. "It's getting late." I took Angel, laying her down on the, now, comfy "bed". Pulling the other blankets over her, I said "Good night," and placed a kiss on her forehead. Sitting down on a old, ragged pillow I placed on the seat beside her, I thought about tomorrow.

"Sing me to sleep?" A voice brought me out of my thoughts. I looked over at Angel.

"Of course." I responded. Shifting so I got a better angle of her, I sang.

_"Come on skinny love just last the year,_

_Pour a little salt we were never here,_

_My my my, my my my, my-my my-my..._

_Staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer_

_Tell my love to wreck it all,_

_Cut out all the ropes and let me fall,_

_My my my, my my my, my-my my-my..._

_Right in the moment this order's tall._

_And I told you to be patient,_

_And I told you to be fine,_

_And I told you to be balanced,_

_And I told you to be kind,_

_And in the morning I'll be with you,_

_But it will be a different kind,_

_'Cause I'll be holding all the tickets,_

_And you'll be owning all the fines._

_Come on skinny love, what happened here?_

_Suckle on the hope in light brassieres,_

_My my my, my my my, my-my my-my..."_

_(Skinny love, Bon Iver. Cover by Birdy.)_

My voice faded on the last line, hearing her breath even out. I smiled a small smile at her sleeping figure. Getting comfertable once again, I closed my eyes. Minutes later, I find it hard to get sleep. I was really awake by singing the song, but I didn't mind. Singing her to sleep was never a bad thing to me. Singing her to sleep was a solace not just for her, but for me, too.

Singing her to sleep keeps me awake, but I don't mind. When your a child, you believe you can be anything you want to be, go wherever you want to go. THere's no limit to what you dream. You expect the unexpected, you believe in magic, in fairytales, and in possibilities. Then you grow up and see reality for how it really is. Somewhere along the way, we realise that we can't be all that we wanted to be, you might just settle for a little less. It's funny because Angel, my motivation for living, is already at the point of seeing reality. Not the one kids see that is filled with Barney, Mickey Mouse, and Dora; She sees the crime, hatred, and stress the world can never relieve.

I guess you could blame it on a lot of things, like how she witnessed the lack of love in the world, how she survived with me but without our parents. There will never be a real justification. But when I sing her to sleep, she sees as the seven year old shes supposed to be. If she can get all of her imagination back from one song,

I will sing her to sleep.

**AN- a bit sad, yes. The real introduction and backround on Max and Angel will come in the next chapters. R&R! Please and thank you! :D**


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